A World With James Potter
by hrb42
Summary: What if James Potter had lived?


In this world James Potter lives. In this world Harry grows up with a parent who loves him but he still faces the trials and tribulations that come with being 'The Boy Who Lived'. He breaks school rules, he fights evil but he also has a father who teaches him how to and fights with him because that's that the Potters do, they fight to defeat evil. They fight so that Lily didn't die in vein, they fight because they are Gryffindors and you have to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves.

Something was wrong, very very wrong. James saw the rubble of the house and smelled something burning, he started to run. The door was open and there in the living room lay the body of the woman he was supposed to grow old with, behind her was the crying form of his son, bleeding slightly on his head. Something was wrong.

It was a prank, a very bad prank. You don't just go out for milk and come back ten minutes later to find your wife dead and your infant son bleeding. You surely don't see the empty shell of a body of the darkest wizard who ever lived in your living room. James looked around, waiting for Lily to sit up and for Sirius to pop up where Voldemort was laying and for everyone to laugh, but the laughter didn't come.

He was shaking as he bend down and picked up Harry. He walked to the kitchen so he wouldn't have to look at the lifeless body of the woman. He set his son down on the table and pulled out his wand, cleaned up the blood and realized that this cut would not heal easily, he would have to ask Dumbledore if he knew any tricks. Then it clicked in his head, he needed to talk to Dumbledore, to warn him that Peter.

That was when James Potter broke down. The weight of everything felt like a crushing load on his chest and heart. His wife, his Lily, was dead. Peter had betrayed them to Voldemort. James let out a sob that started deep in his stomach and he held his son tight to him as a small voice said, "No cry dada."

James opened his eyes and looked into his son's bright green eyes, Harry reached out a small hand and wiped away the tears that were streaming down James's face. It was that moment that gave James the strength to send a message to the Order about what had happened. He sat down at the table, holding Harry in his lap and waited for someone to arrive.

Sirius got their first, his eyes manic and his hair wild. "I'll kill that rat. I'll fucking kill him James, do you hear me?" Then he stopped and saw how broken James was and how small and helpless Harry was and he hugged them both because even though Sirius black had a temper and was often likely to fly off the handle he knew that his brother, not in blood but in sprit, needed him.

Next to arrive is Remus, just moments after Sirius. He looks beaten and worn from months of living with the werwolves but when he sees James, still clutching Harry like he's the only real thing in the room and Sirius holding both of them Remus snaps into action. He quickly hugs his three lost boys and then he goes into the living room and closes Lily's eyes, moves her to the couch and lays her arms gently by her sides. Remus can feel the tears pouring from his eyes but he doesn't care. Today the world lost Lily Evans and the only thing that could have made that worse was if they had also lost James Potter.

Dumbledore strides into the house looking worried. He sees Lily's body and Voldemort's body and he quietly instructs Frank Longbottom to take Voldemort to head quarters. He moves past Lily with a sad look on his face and he sees James, Sirius, Remus and little Harry in the kitchen. The three men look up at Dumbledore and he thinks they look more like boys then men, because they are still boys in a way.

James speaks first, "How did Harry survive?" He asks this question for two reasons, first because he needs to know the answer but second because he needs to know that if Lily had to die, that it was for a good reason.

"Before I answer that I have to ask you a question myself," Dumbledore said quietly, his eyes were on Sirius. "How did Voldemort get into the house?"

"Peter, we changed secret keepers and Peter, he must have betrayed us," James said sadly. He never would have thought that the sweet boy Peter Pettigrew that he grew up with and shared his childhood with could have done such a thing, but fear makes you do crazy things.

Dumbledore nodded and said, "You should not stay here, is there somewhere you can go?" He offered no explanation about Harry's survival and he must have sensed that James was going to ask again because he added, "I will offer you my theories as to your son's survival when the dust has settled."

James nodded and Sirius said, "We can go to my flat." Dumbledore nodded at this and left the room. The three men and the small boy left for Sirius's London flat moments later, only after James had kissed the head of his wife and called a family friend to help with the body and service.

It took James Potter nearly two years to come out from the fog that Lily's death had left him in. He didn't think he would ever be the same but he was feeling better today then he had since that day. It was Harry's fourth birthday and they were having a bit of a celebration at Potter Manor, where he and Harry now lived.

Sirius had showed up early, carrying a bottle of fire whiskey and a package that looked suspiciously like a broom. Sirius also had a lady on his arm, this was a recent development in Sirius's life, before the war he had been far too focused on his friends and during and after he had been helping James, it wasn't until James sat him down and yelled at him to start living his own life that Sirius had started dating.

Amelia Bones was a mid-ranking member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, something that made James and Remus laugh about. Sirius had finished the first two years of his Auror training and had met Mia at the Ministry Christmas party, they hit it off immediately.

"Uncle Sirius!" Harry yelled as he jumped onto the man walking into the house. "I'm four now!" Sirius laughed as he swung Harry around, it was amazing to him how James had taken on the role of both father and mother the last two and a half years. Once he and Remus had managed to get James out of bed (that took nearly a month) he had really done a great job with the kid, not that he did it alone, he and Remus had been around more then ever, which was really saying something.

Remus walked in moments later, looking a little worse for wear. He had a fresh scar across his face that James and Sirius suspected had come from the last full moon when they had lost track of him in the Forest of Dean where they had taken to transforming. "Alright Rem?" James asked him quietly as Harry jumped out of Sirius's arms and into Remus's.

"I'm alright," He said. That was all they could usually get out of Remus these days. He was aging faster then James or Sirius, his hair already flecked with grey at 25 but that wasn't what made him look older, it was his eyes, they looked as if they had seen 100 years, but then again so did most of the veterans of the war.

Guests started entreating the house, greeted by happy house elves. James saw Harry playing with little Neville Longbottom as Mrs. Longbottom, Neville's grandmother, chatted away with Filius Flitwick. It was like a mini reunion of the Order, families of those who had lost loved ones were there too, a red headed family called the Weasley's who had been related to the Prewitt brothers, the Abbott's who had lost a cousin, the list went on and on.

The door opened again and James looked over to see Petunia Dursley standing there holding the hand of a chubby boy about Harry's age. James strode over to her and said, "Hello Petunia, glad you could make it."

She gave him a tense smile, since Lily had died she had made an effort to see Harry on his birthday and at Christmas. James knelt down and said, "Hullo Dudley, you're getting very big, how old are you now?"

Dudley looked slightly terrified and looked up at his mother who gave him an approving nod, "I'm 4." Dudley said holding up four fingers.

"Well that's fitting, Harry's 4 as well, want me to take you to your cousin?" James asked, looking more at Petunia then her son. She gave a small nod and James took Dudley's free hand and led him to where his cousin was playing. James came back to Petunia and said, "Can I get you a drink?"

She nodded again, she seemed more anxious then usual about being in a room full of wizards. Remus saw them and smiled, "Hello Petunia," Remus said with a smile, "Nice to see you again." Remus had grown up with a muggle mother and Petunia knew that and felt a slight connection with him. She smiled a tight lipped smile. "Ah don't worry," Remus said seeing her nerves, "You're amongst friends here."

James laughed softly as he walked away. He wished that Petunia had made the efforts she made these days when Lily had been alive, he knew that Lils missed her sister but sometimes he felt like he could feel Lily smiling at him when he called Petunia on the muggle telly-fone and he swore he could hear her laugh whenever he spoke too loudly or mentioned something Petunia wouldn't understand, like floo powder.

Sirius was deep in conversation with Minerva McGonagall when he walked over to them and got a rather large hug from his former professor. "Sirius was just telling me that Harry is showing all sorts of magical ability," she said with a smile, "You'd think that he was the boys father the way he brags about him."

"These days Sirius is just about a father to him," James said with a chuckle, "He watches Harry when I go for training with the team and I watch him when Sirius is training to save the world. Harry was always attached to him but when we lived there in the months after Lily's death he basically imprinted on Siri and Rem."

Minerva smiled, she herself was already very fond of the boy who was currently defending Neville from Dudley who had knocked over Neville's stack of blocks. He wasn't doing it in a mean way, just scolding Dudley for being mean, she could tell he would make a great Gryffindor one day. "I'm excited to see what he can do once he's started school, only a few more years until then."

"What'll scare me," James said with a laugh and a smile, "is if little Dudley makes it into Hogwarts, Petunia wrote me a terrified letter a few weeks ago about how Dudley had made his oatmeal explode because he didn't want it."

The group laughed, the idea of Petunia Dursley with a son a Hogwarts was amusing but very possible. They watched the group of children, Harry, Neville, Dudley and the youngest Weasley boy, Ron, playing and how Harry seemed to be not only a peacekeeper in the group but the leader of it, making sure everyone had a fair amount of toys and keeping Dudley in check.

"You've done a great job with him James," Minerva said softly so that only he could hear. She saw the tears forming in his eyes, "Lily would be proud. You're raising him to have her kindness and bravery but also your leadership and if I'm correct your sense of adventure." She patted him on the back before joining Filius and Mrs. Longbottom. James knew she was right, Lily would be proud, he only wished she was here to see it.

James hugged his only son tightly to his chest before sending him off to Hogwarts for his first year. He watched as Harry sat in a compartment with Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, the two boys he had grown up with, along with his cousin, a very scared looking Dudley Dursley.

Petunia had called James in a panic when Dudley got his letter, Vernon had kicked them out when she said she wanted Dudley to go to the school but had let them back after a week or so. He was not here today but she hinted that he may be coming around to the idea of Dudley being special.

Sirius and Remus were there waving Harry off as well. Sirius smiled widely because his daughter would be going to Hogwarts in five years. Amelia was at home with little Mary and Sirius was happier then he had been in almost all of his life. He knew that it was in part because James was finally happy again, it has been nearly ten years since Lily's death and though he wouldn't even go on a date Sirius knew that his pseudo brother at peace.

On the train Harry was chatting animatedly with Ron and Neville while Dudley looked out the window feeling more nervous then he had in his entire life. "So Dud where do you reckon you'll end up?" Harry asked his cousin with a smile, "I'm hoping for Gryffindor like my mum and dad and Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus."

Ron and Neville chimed in their agreement and Dudley said, "I guess I'll find out when they put in in the house."

When the sorting was done and Harry, Ron and Neville had all been sorted into Gryffindor and Dudley into Hufflepuff, though the hat had considered Slytherin for a moment but changed it's mind when it saw that Dudley's deepest tendencies were kind and fair he had just been raised with prejudice.

James Potter smiled to himself as he read the letter that Harry had written him about his first days of school. He bubbled with pride at the fact that his son had been sorted into his old house and was glad that Harry had made new friends on top of his old ones. Sirius and Remus were also pleased and Sirius said, "But how long until he gets his first detention Prongs?"

James stood in Dumbledore's office the day after Harry had faced Lord Voldemort and won, yet again. "So he's not gone then." Was all James had to say. He had already visited his son who was in a magically induced coma while his wounds healed. "What do we do now?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as they often did when he was proud or happy. "I think for now we have to be grateful that Lily's sacrifice lives in Harry's skin and blood, that her death was not in vein." He smiled at James, "And we need to be proud of your son, who did what most grown men could not do. He got the stone out of the mirror because his only intension was to protect it and he made friends who will help him on his journey." He saw the look on James's face and continued, "Oh yes, his journey is unfortunately just beginning, I fear that he will likely face Lord Voldemort again."

"But why, he's just a boy." James said, his voice cracking.

Dumbledore then explained to James the prophecy and how Voldemort marked Harry as his equal. "Voldemort feels that Harry is the only one that can defeat him so he wants to defeat him first."

James left the office some time later feeling like he had been punched in the stomach, his son would have to face the greatest dark wizard the world had known and try to defeat him. James swore then and there that Harry would be ready. But he also swore that his son would have a childhood, that he would play with his friends and enjoy quidditch, that he would break rules and make both right and wrong choices, that his son would laugh and smile before he had to face Voldemort again.

When Harry went off to his second year of Hogwarts, nearly missing the train because of a glitch in the barrier, James was glad that he had stopped him son and his son's best friend from flying a car to school, though Sirius teased him endlessly about losing his sense of adventure. James had merely rolled his eyes at this, he had a sense of adventure still he just didn't want his son getting hurt or killed, it was his fatherly instinct.

It was this instinct that was roaring in his chest as he was visiting Hogwarts at the end of term yet again. He stood in Dumbledore's office in the corner watching Lucius Malfoy berate the headmaster and he watch with pride as his son stood up to Malfoy like a man, not a boy of twelve. He saw his son chase after Malfoy with the destroyed diary and came back grinning as he had freed Dobby.

It was again with pride that James head Harry recount the tale of freeing Buckbeak the hippogriff. He knew that he shouldn't reward his son for breaking school rules but it was a noble thing to do and he was too proud to be angry or even feign anger.

They went to the Quidditch World Cup and James's worst fears came true, Death Eaters at the event, muggle toucher for sport and the Dark Mark. Hermione Granger, one of Harry's closest friends from school was the only one of the kids to know what it meant but no one could have guessed that by this time next year Lord Voldemort would not only be back but Harry would have defied him again.

****  
James Potter was not surprised when he was again invited to join the Order of the Phoenix. He, Sirius and Remus are among the first to join the reformed group and dive head first into the fight. Sirius and Kingsley Shacklebolt, another Auror are their eyes and ears at the Ministry along with Arthur Weasley. James is sacked from his position at the Dailey Prophet as the quidditch corresponded because of his connections with Harry.

He watches as his son becomes more and more withdrawn. "Harry," James finally says about a week before the term starts, "You need to know that we're on your side, we're all here for you, fighting because we know that you're telling the truth." Though Harry doesn't say it out loud it is James's words that get him through his first term and when he forms Dumbledores Army with his classmates he has his father's face in mind when he casts his patronus charm.

Dudley Dursley joins the group and is one of the most outspoken supporters of his cousin. James can't help but smile when he reads the letters from Harry talking about how Dudley got into a fight with a fellow Hufflepuff over Harry's story. "He took the kids wand right out of his hand and said 'why would anyone lie about you-know-who coming back, especially Harry Fucking Potter.' and then he punched him in the nose."

When Arthur Weasley is attacked James and Sirius comfort Harry and they watch as Ginny Weasley with a fierce look in her eyes tells him point blank that he is not being possessed she knows because she's been there. James is also there in the Department of Mysteries because he knows his son and he knows that he'll stop at nothing when he has a vision of his Uncle Remus being tortured.

In this world no one dies during that battle and Harry still fights off possession by Voldemort because he is so full of love and pain at the thought of losing anyone, because he thinks he's lost Ron to the brains and Hermione to the purple curse. In this world James Potter spends that summer with Harry his closest friends and his cousin teaching them even more curses and counter curses because he knows that war is right around the corner.

When Dumbledore dies and Harry leaves for his mission James watches and knows that he can't stop his son because he is as stubborn as his mother and as brave as his father. He knows that he may never see him again so when he hugs him he puts ever bit of love he can into that hug.

At the final battle James watches as Hagrid carries what looks like his son's dead body and he is filled with a rage so complete that he doesn't think he has any room for grief. He sees Neville Longbottom pull the sword of Gryffindor out of the sorting hat and watches him kill the snake. He joins the crowd let by Neville and Dudley in the fight and he loses sight of his son's body because the body is moving and alive.

When Harry defeats Voldemort James is the first to reach his son, tears shining in his eyes as he says, "You're mother would be so proud."

The battle was hard and long, they lost Colin Creevy and Lavender Brown and countless others, Fred had barely gotten out of the way of a falling wall but he lived, Remus and Tonks had dueled back to back, saving each other from death more then once. James watched as Harry mourned and he mourned the deaths of good men and women.

From there James watches as his son falls madly in love with a fiery redheaded girl who is more similar to his mother then James wants to tell him. He watches as Harry trains to become an Auror like his uncle Sirius and as Ginny Weasley proves to be not only a funny, smart and beautiful girl but also one of the best chasers he's seen in years.

"You mean to tell me that you know Gwenog Jones?" Ginny said her voice squeaking with excitement, "She's my favorite player, I'd love to watch her."

James smiled to himself because he had managed to convinced Gwen to let Ginny try out for the team. When Ginny finds out that she has a try out and subsequently made the team she gives James the biggest hug he's had in years.

After her third league title win Harry proposed to Ginny and she said yes. James was so reminded of his own wedding, Ron giving a best man speech to rival Sirius's all those years ago, Neville shaking his head and laughing so like Remus and Dudley still looking like he didn't know how he had managed to get so lucky with his friends.

When Harry and Ginny told him they were expecting their first child James was elated, "Better name him after me," he had joked but they did name him after James. James Arthur Potter, Jamie to the family, was born early on a Tuesday morning, the first of four grandchildren that James Potter would have.

The next was Albus Ronald Potter who was born just a year and a half after his brother. Ginny and Harry agreed that though Albus Dumbledore had been a flawed man he did was he had to do to ensure the survival of the wizarding world. Albus was the name of a hero, as was Ronald. James saw Ron cry when he heard the name of his nephew.

When Lily Hermione was born Ginny swore it was the last child she would ever have now that she had a girl so James Potter laughed when just over a year later Margret Luna Potter, Maggie for short, was born. He laughed even harder when she hit Harry with a bat boggie hex in the delivery room.

Years later when James Potter was on his death bed he wasn't alone. He was surround by friends and family, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Remus had gone a dozen years before and Sirius just a year ago, but James knew they weren't really gone.

When he closed his eyes for the last time he saw a flash of his life before his eyes, happy moments and sad moments, from the birth of Harry to the death of Lily to raising his son and watching him succeed to watching his friends die of old age, the way it was supposed to be and then there she was. He stood up form his bed and realized he was at a train station, Kings Cross to be exact and Lily Evans Potter was standing there looking as radiant as ever.

"Ready to come home love?" She asked him, extending her hand and smiling. He nodded and followed her to a train where he saw Sirius and Remus and all those who had gone during the wars and after and he smiled.

James Potter knew that he wouldn't be seeing his son for quiet a long time, but he also knew that his heart at been waiting for this moment. He had never fallen in love with another woman after Lily, he had loved his family and friends but never like he had loved her and there she was. When he looked in a mirror on the train he saw that he was 21 again and smiled. "I hope you waited for me," he said to her with a wry smile.

"I'd have waited until the end of time." She answered as the train started moving. He was home and in the end all was well.


End file.
